Weekend Wonderings: What Are Your BIG Blue-Sky Resolutions?

As the first week back at school for most people winds to a close, it’s time to take a breath and reflect back on the first days of 2016. How are those resolutions coming along? Are you working on one resolution at a time or are you trying to tackle all your goals at once? No matter your approach, this time of year is a great time to check in and consider the things about which you want to be resolute.

Resolutions and Goals—Three Basic TypesThere are three basic types of goals and resolutions:

Things you want to KEEP doing. (Many people overlook this type of goal because it’s easy to forget that some things you are doing, past goals you have mastered, are still goals because you want to continue to do them. These goals take time, energy, and still count! Do you want to keep up your walking routine, keep saving money each month, or keep your closet organized? These are KEEP goals.)

BIG and Beyond the BasicsIn addition to my own “get healthier” resolution that means I will STOP eating gluten, KEEP up my walking plan, and START getting more sleep, I also have one really BIG blue-sky resolution for 2016. Most people do. Many people segment this goal from the others because it feels BIG, really big. It may be a goal related to your family, your work, or your interests. For some people, a BIG blue-sky resolution is often connected to all of the BIG and important aspects of your life. These goals don’t stop, start, or keep going—instead, they are ONGOING.

My BIG Blue-Sky ResolutionTo help you see what I mean, here’s my BIG blue-sky resolution for 2016: I will focus even more of my own time directly helping teachers help themselves and their students. My BIG blue-sky resolution for 2016 is to capture the Teacher Peach spark on a bigger national level so that teachers all over the country feel terrific about the important work they have chosen to do—and help me to create products that add even more value to them.

In 2016, I want to create even more products that will help teachers exhibit even deeper pride in the teaching profession. Does sporting one of our snazzy tote bags or using the motivating certificates and note cards we create for teachers really make a difference? We hope so. Teachers do tell us that our products do make a difference. I know that the more teachers are excited about our products and are willing to contribute by reviewing product ideas, making new product suggestions, critiquing our work in progress, and helping us shape the types of products we create, another part of my BIG 2016 goal, the more our products will help teachers. That’s why I’m determined to directly and personally ask, listen to, and connect with more teachers than ever before in 2016. (That’s also why I’m going on record here by sharing my goal with you now. Want to talk and connect? Comment below or email me at randi@teacherpeach.com!)

Stories That Matter About Products That HelpKnowing that Teacher Peach products matter to both teachers and their students is something we often discover in small, anecdotal ways. One story illustrates this better than many others—and it is a story that keeps me going.

I’d given a teacher two free samples of our “You made a great choice!” card, just to try it. All I asked of her in return was to tell me how she used them and if she thought they were valuable to her students. I didn’t hear from her for a long time. I thought she’d forgotten or perhaps hadn’t yet used the cards.

One day, months later, I got a note from her. She told me that right after we met, she had given one of the cards to a child in her class who had struggled with reading. He was really beginning to decode more complex words with less help and she was so pleased with his progress. She decided to tell him quietly, by giving him this card, reminding him to take the time to decode, and that she noticed his efforts to do this in small group.

Her note went on to say that the little boy had since left her class. He was sent to live with relatives in another city because his family had been living in a local shelter temporarily. When he came to say goodbye, she told him that he was a good reader and to remember to take each word apart, just as they’d been doing. “Like you said in the card?” At first, she didn’t know what he meant, but he reminded her about the “great choice” card she had given him months before.

As he was walking out of her classroom, he turned. He said he kept the card along with an old watch from his grandmother, in a red box that he kept wrapped up in his sweatshirt for safekeeping. He told her he looked at the card every day before school, that no one had ever given him anything like that before, and he was going to keep it forever.

The teacher apologized for not writing sooner and said she thought I might like to know that card certainly helped one little boy. As for the other copy of the card I had given her? She gave it right back: she used it to write her note to me. Needless to say, I then sent her several sets for her desk drawer. This is the kind of story that helps us figure out how to help teachers reach their students.

More Positives to Come!Stories like this one and my BIG blue-sky resolution are behind our upcoming launch of more and more teacher products that are designed for teachers to give directly to students. Our new line of amazing Sticker Treats™ motivational stickers help teachers share positives and foster greater confidence in their students—easily, economically, and effectively.

In the coming weeks, I’ll introduce this series in a post or two so you can see how you might use these stickers in your classrooms. From 100 Days, Happy Birthday, Teamwork, Anti-Bullying, and more, you’ll find many Sticker Treats™ to help your students know that their good choices do matter—and they do, too. In the meantime, here’s a preview. (The images below are the proofs of the stickers. The stickers come 15 stickers to a sheet and each sticker is 1-1/2” in diameter.)

My BIG blue-sky resolution for 2016 is to help teachers reach and positively impact more students as we support one another and continue to do challenging work with and for the most important people in our lives—our kids! Enjoy a great weekend. Let us know about your BIG blue-sky resolutions. If there’s a Teacher Peach product we can dream up to help you achieve your goals, we hope you’ll share that too!